How to Refresh an Old Apartment in Sweden Without Spending Money

Behind the charm of an old setting always lies a 'worn out' and lived-in interior: uneven walls, peeling plaster, old radiators, and outdated interior doors. However, to refresh such an apartment, it is not necessary to start a capital renovation; you can get by with a can of paint, new curtains, and a couple of ficus plants. That's what they did in this one-room flat.

Painting Walls and Ceilings

The first thing done in this apartment was to refresh the walls and plaster the ceilings. To visually not reduce the already tiny one-room flat, they chose light tones: white, gray, and pale pink. In the living room, the walls were painted in two colors — white and pale pink. This makes the beautiful white stove stand out on the pink wall.

White Color as a Helper

To avoid spending on new doors and windows, the designers of this apartment painted them white. First of all, white interiors are easier to assemble than colored ones. And secondly, it's an excellent option when there's no time to come up with something new, but the result is needed right away. By the way, white radiator paint dries quickly, doesn't smell, and costs just a few cents.

Flowers Bloom

A couple of plants can transform any apartment. Place them on windowsills or on a coffee table, as was done in this apartment. The most common flowers in interiors are orchids, palms, ficus, and monstera. You can also look for unusual vases for flowers at flea markets or age a clay pot yourself. Dry flowers also look great in Scandinavian interiors.

Decoration from What's at Hand

In this apartment, a tablecloth is made of a piece of white cotton fabric. If desired, the edges of the fabric can be overlocked, but even without that, it will look harmonious. Add an antique candlestick bought at a vintage market, and the look is ready.

Another way to bring warmth into an apartment is to buy curtains slightly longer than the ceiling height. So that they slightly touch the floor. By the way, curtains can also be sewn from a regular piece of fabric. In this apartment, the curtains are linen. Linen is transparent and at the same time resistant to sunlight.

Go through old magazines, posters, and prints. There's sure to be something that can fit into a frame and hang on the wall. Another way to decorate the walls is to print several images from the Internet, as the owners of this apartment did.

Textiles

In this apartment, the background is white, so the textiles here are in various shades and patterns: blue, brown, green, zebra, and stripes. Don't be afraid to experiment with textiles and look for interesting combinations, as they are always easy to change.

Carpets, by the way, are also an important detail of interior design. It is they who bring warmth into an apartment. Plus, carpets zone the space. This is especially important when you need to define functional zones in one room: workspace (desk), bedroom (bed), and relaxation zone (sofa).

Mirrors

Mirrors reflect light and expand space. Use this trick, as was done in this apartment. Here, on particularly narrow areas — in the corridor — designers decided to install a mirror cabinet. In the living room, to reflect light from wide windows, a mirror was built right into the stove.